katheriner
19-10-05, 15:51
I have recently started a CBT course (I’ve had 4 sessions so far) and it feels like it’s helping so far. This week my therapist gave me a task to do – I’m not allowed to worry! It sounds really obvious, and stupid, but it actually seems to be helping. Every time a worry comes into my head I have to try and put it out of my mind – if it keeps coming back I am allowed to set a limited time in which I am allowed to worry about it. I put it into practice last night when I had to go out for a meal with work colleagues – usually I would start worrying about it and then go through all the escape routes in my head, and then try to use positive thinking to convince myself that I would be fine, and even if I didn’t feel good there would be ways of coping. While this is quite a helpful method, actually not allowing myself to think of it at all worked even better. Then this morning as I left my flat, I started to worry that I might not have switched everything off, or locked the doors – I couldn’t put it out of my mind, so allowed myself 5 minutes to go through it in my head and convince myself I had done everything – then I banished the thought!
Other tasks I have done are the usual keeping note of all panic attacks – writing what you were scared of, the physical symptoms, all the horrible thoughts, and then trying to write a more balanced thought to replace the negative ones. We then discussed my notes in the nest session. I’ve also found keeping a more general diary quite useful, because I find it’s so easy to forget the positive things when you feel like this, so writing down everything good and bad, reminds you that you do have some better days.
Anyway, just thought I’d share that, and if anyone’s thinking of having CBT my advice would be to go for it – it is hard work, and the exercises can be boring and repetitive, but it’s worth it!
Best wishes,
Kath
Other tasks I have done are the usual keeping note of all panic attacks – writing what you were scared of, the physical symptoms, all the horrible thoughts, and then trying to write a more balanced thought to replace the negative ones. We then discussed my notes in the nest session. I’ve also found keeping a more general diary quite useful, because I find it’s so easy to forget the positive things when you feel like this, so writing down everything good and bad, reminds you that you do have some better days.
Anyway, just thought I’d share that, and if anyone’s thinking of having CBT my advice would be to go for it – it is hard work, and the exercises can be boring and repetitive, but it’s worth it!
Best wishes,
Kath